JANUARY 16, 2004

Portugal joins anti-tobacco crowd

Portugal is the latest country to have committed itself to enforcing a ban a global ban on tobacco sponsorship. The Portuguese signed the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control a few days ago, bringing to 86 the number of countries which are now committed to making the international anti-tobacco treaty a reality.

The only European Union country which has yet to sign the Convention is Belgium.

The signature adds another hurdle to any ambitions the Portuguese may have had to get the Portuguese GP back on the F1 calendar. Bernie Ecclestone has made it clear that he intends for there to be more non-European races in the future and is planning new events in Turkey, Russia, India and Mexico. This will inevitably mean that there will be fewer races in Europe as the teams are only bound to have 17 races in a year and even with a new Concorde Agreement and a reduction in testing they are not going to agree to many more each year.